Taco Bell opens in Camptown

The new Taco Bell in Chester's Camptown section at the corner of Route 150/State Street and Dixie Drive is shown on Tuesday night.Pete Spitler/Herald Tribune

By Pete SpitlerEditor@heraldtrib.com

updated: 7/11/2017 11:07 PM

Roughly a week ahead of schedule, but after a few hiccups, the new Taco Bell in Chester's Camptown section opened for business on Tuesday.

The site at 2235 State Street at the corner of Dixie Drive and Route 150 has been a beehive of activity in the past week. Last Friday, workers unloaded a food truck while a paving crew put the finishing touches on an overlay of the parking lot.

Nearby, a crew with Piros Signs of Barnhart, Mo., were installing the official Taco Bell logos and insignias on the outside of the building.

Brian Hubbard, regional general manager for franchisee K-MAC Holdings Corporation, said K-MAC had been eyeing the spot for several years.

"We're absolutely excited to be here," he said. "We've been in talks for a couple of years and we're happy to finally see it come to fruition."

Hubbard noted that management of the new location, technically known as Taco Bell No. 730, came from Perryville, but other employees are local.

Hours of operation at the restaurant are 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Project superintendent Jeff Shockley previously told the Herald Tribune the restaurant had an opening date of July 17, but construction progressed quickly due to good weather and good help.

"We've been very fortunate," he said. "I've had a good team and, obviously, to do one of these in 65 days is out of the ordinary.

"We normally get 75 days."

Taco Bell staff were hopeful to open on July 8, but technical problems with the point-of-sale computer system delayed the opening until Monday. On Monday, staff informed the newspaper that continued technical problems meant the opening would be delayed again.